Comments on: Top 50 albums of 2002

Top 50 albums of 2002

mathowie — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:30:38 -0800

And so it begins: while I've already seen half a dozen "best ___ of 2002" lists, the year end list I look forward to, Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums list is out for 2002. It's just the right mix between "so mainstream there are no surprises" and "so indie even your second cousin's girlfriend's brother in that band hasn't heard of them" though perhaps they're leaning towards the latter this year, seeing how I've only heard about a quarter of all the albums listed.

By: GriffX

GriffX — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:37:07 -0800

I agree with much of this, but talking about the new Sigur Ros album they say: One of the more willfully obscure albums to see release in the naught decade thus far, ( ) ran through eight tracks in a presumptuous seventy-two minutes. It provided no song titles or information in the useless CD booklet ... In summation, ( ) is like Radiohead without Thom Yorke. What could be better? Are they kidding? Quite the opposite of Radiohead without Thom Yorke, I'd say.

By: GriffX

GriffX — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:41:29 -0800

Oh man - their #1 album is frickin' Interpol? It's like they wanted to give it to the Strokes, but - oh, wait - they appeared on SNL, can't do that.

By: mhjb

mhjb — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:46:34 -0800

:( I thought i was mr eclectic, but haven't even heard of three quarters of these bands.

By: riffola

riffola — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:49:25 -0800

Def Leppard's "X" and Bon Jovi's "Bounce" are my two favourite albums of 2002.

By: websavvy

websavvy — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:52:31 -0800

Here's a list. We can get mad at it, and point out the omissions. Ready? Go! We can also be arrogant while doing so, but that's optional.

By: Rattmouth

Rattmouth — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 17:54:33 -0800

I bet their Worst 50 of 2002 would be much more interesting. Plenty of spiteful whining.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:00:34 -0800

Sadly, just about all the music I've gotten excited about this year has been reissues of stuff that's 25+ tears old and/or popular music from a far off land that was never issued here. I'm becoming a young fogey. Then again if you've never heard something, then it's new to you, right? Or perhaps most new music just sucks ass, lately.

By: atom128

atom128 — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:01:19 -0800

May I recommend The Onion AV Club's least essential albums of 2002?

By: davebush

davebush — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:16:30 -0800

Although I can't deny my interest in the list, debating it is kinda pointless. Having said that, where the hell is Elvis Costello!?

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:32:17 -0800

"...I've only heard about a quarter of all the albums listed. " Heh. I've heard of maybe five of these artists, total. I haven't heard a single track from any of these albums. You may now officially refer to me as "geezer" or "old fart". I'll be on the porch, shaking my cane at those damned kids who won't stay off my lawn.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:41:01 -0800

Regarding Eminem: The fawning of every mainstream presswad only fueled our dissentience. Yet here his scrappy ass smirks from our year-end roundup, as we're caught in the flow of his arch-parody/manifesto. Eminem's pathological self-spotlighting teetered on the line dividing logorrhea from a talking cure. His no-brow lunges forced his listeners to superimpose highbrow notions on his shoulders: Is he a chiaroscurist, obsessed with the play of the light and the dark, in terms of spirit, tone, and complexion? Is he a lost Kafka character, whose two compulsions are to build idols of himself and then tear them down? Is he not one of us, but the king of us? That's possibly the worst review I've ever read, and that's saying something considering I subscribed to Rolling Stone for 12 years. How they could revel in their "quality through obscurity" slant and then put freakin Eminem in their list is ridiculous. Here's a hint: you're not going to find musical genius pounding from the purple lowrider next to you at the stoplight. Offtopic anecdote: several years ago I had a competition system in my vehicle, and I used to get a lot of utility from pulling up to the punks in their Toyota's and drowning out their Dr. Dre with the finale of the "1812 Overture".

By: dolface

dolface — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:44:29 -0800

Ynoxas beat me too it, but here it is anyway: i nearly sprained myself laughing at this bit from the review of 'the eminem show' (#38) Is he a chiaroscurist, obsessed with the play of the light and the dark, in terms of spirit, tone, and complexion? Is he a lost Kafka character, whose two compulsions are to build idols of himself and then tear them down? Is he not one of us, but the king of us?

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:47:06 -0800

"...you're not going to find musical genius pounding from the purple lowrider next to you at the stoplight." People who use broad, sweeping generalizations are inevitably [insert your favorite insult here].

By: y6y6y6

y6y6y6 — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:49:11 -0800

I would love to listen to much of this. Chances are I'd buy several of them. But now that Napster is gone, I guess I'm just going to pass. Which seems stupid to me. We should have Napster back.

By: dolface

dolface — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:49:50 -0800

"...you're not going to find musical genius pounding from the purple lowrider next to you at the stoplight." a tribe called quest 'nuff said

By: bucko

bucko — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:51:43 -0800

Yawn... Predictably Pitchfork-ish. Blah, blah, blah. I still love what Buddyhead has to say about Pitchfork in their links page, "Pitchfork Media – Ever wonder what happens to the 46,986 kids who graduate as journalism majors every year and can’t find paying jobs? They write reviews here and still think they’re being graded on them."

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:52:59 -0800

Here's a hint: you're not going to find musical genius pounding from the purple lowrider next to you at the stoplight. I dunno, ynoxas, maybe not lately, but the lowrider oriented Thump Records has some kick-ass oldies comps. Hell attitudes like yours are the reason rock and roll(in all it's forms) has to exist, just to prove that musical genius can be found anywhere.

By: SweetJesus

SweetJesus — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 18:56:01 -0800

Here's a hint: you're not going to find musical genius pounding from the purple lowrider next to you at the stoplight. Because "those" people don't have any taste in good music, right? Seriously though, The Eminem Show is in my top 5 hip hop albums of the year (along with I Phantom, and the new El-P disc). It's got great production, much better than average lyrics for a hip hop album (No where near Mr. Lif, El-P, Akrobatik and most other underground MC's), and no filler. And when I bump Eminem, I do it in a white Plymouth Breeze.

By: ashbury

ashbury — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:11:37 -0800

y6, there are lots and lots and lots of file-sharing programs out there. I use kazaa lite and it's done wonders for me--I've actually got a few songs from a couple of these albums; considering I don't have a life, that's no mean feat, trust me. jonmc, 25 year old albums that have never graced your ears is better than gold, as far as I'm concerned. I've had a guy named john martyn on heavy rotation for the last three months and he goes back decades. Good enough for it's own front page post is Exclaim.ca's (IMO, one of the better resources for indie music that I know of) best of list. Many of the same artists grace it's pages too. Do these critics have a conference to decide what's best? Or is it that these artists really are that good and we, the fans, are just jaded pricks? The only one I have out of this list is, sadly, the Beck album. While it is good, it's nowhere near good enough to be in a best of list. IMHO.

By: the aloha

the aloha — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:12:17 -0800

pitchfork's greatest "strength" was always in knocking stuff down. when they try to celebrate something, it always ends up feeling like the kid at the coffee shop with a beret. this list only reinforces this. just now saw bucko's quote. my fire is lost.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:21:53 -0800

People who use broad, sweeping generalizations are inevitably [insert your favorite insult here]. Obscenely good looking and the envy of all their friends, not to mention almost always right? Thanks! It's like mad libs but better. That has become a great mefi pet peeve of mine, the ubiquitous "not every X is that way". The only thing that outnumbers it is "this is not a good FPP". It's like some sort of hyper political correctness, that you can't talk about anything in the aggregate. Ever. I am confident if someone posted about "the beautiful grey color of elephants" that no less than 10 people would chime in about how there are albino elephants, along with a half dozen who would want to derail the thread on whether it's "grey" or "gray". Heaven forbid I insult any of the 16 year old DMX fans on this forum who I'm sure number in the thousands. I apologize if your ODB album really speaks to you as a human being. Sweetjesus: I feel pretty comfortable in impugning you not only because of your taste in music but your taste in automobiles. :-) How about from this point forward every post and every comment that has any definitiveness AT ALL has an understood "generally" attached? Including that one.

By: jonmc

jonmc — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:28:12 -0800

wipe my point off the wall, ynoxas, t just flew over your head.

By: GriffX

GriffX — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:29:33 -0800

"Class, can anyone diagram this Metafilter post?" Because "those" people don't have any taste in good music, right? Seriously though, The Eminem Show is in my top 5 hip hop albums of the year (along with I Phantom, and the new El-P disc). It's got great production, much better than average lyrics for a hip hop album (No where near Mr. Lif, El-P, Akrobatik and most other underground MC's), and no filler. And when I bump Eminem, I do it in a white Plymouth Breeze. OK, I'll do it: The post begins with an INSINUATE THAT YOU'RE A RACIST. We then move on to an I LIKE THE POPULAR THING YOU WERE BADMOUTHING followed by the ever-popular BUT JUST SO YOU KNOW, I LIKE THESE OTHER COMPLETELY OBSCURE THINGS, SO IT'S NOT LIKE I DIG BLINK 182 OR ANYTHING And then the post ends with the usual WRY SELF-DEPRECATING OF-COURSE-I'M-NOT-THAT-HIP-I'M-JUST-CALLING-YOU-OUT "Oh, well done."

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:30:55 -0800

I suppose we can bury sarcasm right next to irony.

By: SweetJesus

SweetJesus — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:40:47 -0800

Sweetjesus: I feel pretty comfortable in impugning you not only because of your taste in music but your taste in automobiles. :-) Eh, whatever. It's a nice car for a college student. Gets me from a to b. Heaven forbid I insult any of the 16 year old DMX fans on this forum who I'm sure number in the thousands. I apologize if your ODB album really speaks to you as a human being. Now here is where you show your complete ignorance of what hip hop is about, and who it speaks to. Reminds me of the Bill O'Reilly tiraids about Jay-Z and the like. Oh well, some people are willfully ignorant about some things.

By: LoopSouth

LoopSouth — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:42:43 -0800

I have never been a fan of Sigur Rios... And besides the "Strokes wannabes".... And "Geogaddi" wasn't Boards of Canada's best... Why they left out "Confield" by Autechre... or "Pause" by Four Tet... I'll never know... or even Aphex Twin's "Druqks"? whatever... just one dood's opinion, thats all...

By: SweetJesus

SweetJesus — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:43:54 -0800

Grifix: Just so we get something straight - I'm very hip. "Oh, well done."

By: SweetJesus

SweetJesus — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:47:32 -0800

Why they left out "Confield" by Autechre... or "Pause" by Four Tet... I'll never know... or even Aphex Twin's "Druqks"? Druqks was released in October of last year, and from what I remember, it was in Pitchfork's top 50 of last year.

By: hyperizer

hyperizer — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:48:44 -0800

LoopSouth: Confield, Pause, and Druqks were released in 2001. While we're trying to out-do each other's pretentiousness, I'd like to take the opportunity to self-link to my own top 10.

By: mr_crash_davis

mr_crash_davis — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 19:54:55 -0800

Christ at #8, hyperizer? It's been, what, 1968 years since he did anything? Good to see him back.

By: rex

rex — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 20:01:02 -0800

If anyone wants to compare (or debate the merits of comparing these two entities), here's Spin's Top 40 of 2002. (Warning: it's a self-link, cuz the dumb Spin site doesn't have any legit content.)

By: rex

rex — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 20:05:27 -0800

(Quick cross-count: 11 albums make both lists.)

By: ZachsMind

ZachsMind — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 20:41:34 -0800

The only two 'mainstream' CDs I recall buying this year are Sting's All This Time and The Once More With Feeling Buffy Soundtrack. Maybe no one else thinks they're the best of the past year, but they're my personal faves and my ears are the ones I have to live with. I can't get into Eminem. I can't get into any rap other than RunDMC. They're the only rap artists I actually enjoy. All other rap pales in comparison. Again. my ears. Be thankful they're not yours. Top anything lists are usually just silly. Excepting of course for NPR's most important American musical works of the 20th century. Talking Heads & The Ramones made it in, as did Nirvana, Aretha Franklin, Nat King Cole, The Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Duke Ellington, Cole Porter, Buddy Holly, Igor Stravinsky, James Brown, Carl Stalling, Bob Dylan, James Taylor, Irving Berlin, Fats Domino, Glenn Miller, Paul Simon, Carole King, Bernard Hermann, Tammy Wynette, Jerry Lee Lewis, Louis Armstrong, Ferde Grofe, Muddy Waters, Ella Fitzgerald, Earl Scruggs, Samuel Barber, Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie, Elvis Presley, The Velvet Underground, Mama Cass, Ray Charles, Patsy Cline, Jelly Roll Morton and John Cage. I can live with that.

By: ejoey

ejoey — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 20:59:47 -0800

maybe its just because I only recently found out about Pitchfork, but their cruel reviews are some of the best I've ever read. Audioslave and MC Paul Barman are my personal top two. And by the way, where the heck was Adult. on their top 50??? 'Hand to Phone' is my vote for top song of the year at least...

By: superfem

superfem — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:07:56 -0800

Maroon 5......hello? Their entire album, Songs About Jane, is outstanding. Goes in the "shoulda made the list but is probably too cool and up-and-coming mainstream" category.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:41:37 -0800

Well, my #1 for this year is from about sixty odd years ago: Robert Petway, allegedly 4'11'' and with a gravel road of a big voice as to rival Howlin' Wolf, he was first to record Catfish Blues, which he most likely wrote - he da man. Either that or Bobby Charles, of whom I have spoken before--an out-of-print Stony Plain CD: my first eBay purchase.

By: atom128

atom128 — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 21:44:04 -0800

ejoey - havent you heard? electroclash is *so* over.

By: billsaysthis

billsaysthis — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 22:00:47 -0800

Springsteen, Springsteen, Springsteen! And both Elvii.

By: lotsofno

lotsofno — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 22:03:33 -0800

i personally don't like eminem, but even i know that he's the best rapper to pick up the mic in years. i was surprised to see a lot of the hip hop acts they put on here, though. i left that scene a while ago, seeing that other genres had more to offer. i still can't believe how much of a hippie common has become. glad to see the flaming lips on there.

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 22:17:30 -0800

GriffX: Thank you. You saved a lot of time. I can sleep better knowing at least one person sees the same thing I do. jonmc: None of my post was directed at you. I assume those Thump records are remastered and doctored, because for instance 60's and 70's soul is not going to sound very good in today's comp systems. I personally don't think a 30hz downbeat thud belongs in James Brown. YMMV. If they are not doctored I'd be curious to their performance. Musical genius is not "everywhere". There is also no musical genius to be had in Polka. It's scientifically demonstrable. Sweetjesus: From your info you look like a sharp young fellow. I'm not sure why you're having so much trouble following. I slam the Breeze because I hope to live out the rest of my life and never buy another Chrysler product. From personal experience, to anecdotal evidence, to professional reviews, Chrysler's are GENERALLY beyond "questionable" in the mechanical category. At one time in the late 80's/early 90's I think the news-magazine-of-the-day quote was that only 1 out of 10 Dodges off the line were defect free. My immediate family has owned perhaps 8 Chrysler products in the last 20 years, and not one of them I would rate above "mediocre". But, that's also why I put in the :) because I know, again from personal experience, that you can't always buy the vehicle you choose. Take an old timer's advice and buy a used Accord or Camry with that job money. You will thank yourself again and again. Previous Accord did 50k miles with $0 in repairs. Current Accord has 60k miles with $0 in repairs. Previous Mazda did 120k miles with ~ $500 in repairs. The thing that really confused me was "Now here is where you show your complete ignorance of what hip hop is about, and who it speaks to. Reminds me of the Bill O'Reilly tiraids about Jay-Z and the like. Oh well, some people are willfully ignorant about some things." First off, I will never forgive you for putting me in league with O'Reilly. He is basically the antithesis of everything I believe in. Second, I was not talking about hip-hop. I was talking about what the punks blast at 129db. It so happens that is often hip-hop, but that is a link that you made, not me. They sometimes blast the pop flavor of the week. There's also a contingent that's starting to try to move euro-dance and techno to the street. I don't know if the "parking lot rave" will ever catch on or not. All I can do is speak from my experience. In my experience, hip-hop fans come in two flavors. The first is those that truly appreciate the free form style (that's not capitalized on purpose, it's a generic term, not Free Form) and the lyrical subject and gymnastics that go with it, along with its many musical influences, including jazz, r&b, and even old-school pop. Then you have the kids that like it to go "BOOOOOOM" in the trunk. Take a wild guess as to which I was talking about in the purple lowrider? In my town, the lowrider population is PREDOMINANTLY young suburban kids that have no idea what the lyrics even ARE much less what they mean or represent. Conveniently, the lowriders make it so you can hear their music a block away. All I hear is stuff like what I mentioned and lately a piss-load of Nelly. EI indeed. Also please note I'm not calling Nelly hip-hop, I'm saying that is what is making noise out of the purple lowrider. See the difference? I'm pretty surprised that you find any worth in Eminem's stuff. I hold that he is a hip-hop novelty. To each his own.

By: aaronetc

aaronetc — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 22:19:30 -0800

I guess it would take a journalistic powerhouse like SPIN to not realize that White Blood Cells was reissued this year and is, in fact, a 2001 record.

By: mhjb

mhjb — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 22:22:21 -0800

atom128 - that onion list is excellent. Particularly amusing: (Note: If S Club 7, LMNT, or A*Teens ever release a remix album, the vortex of inessentiality it creates will knock the planet off its axis.)

By: dhoyt

dhoyt — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 22:25:29 -0800

Ynoxas, why can't you just admit that you're hateful, right-wing, bigoted O'Reilly-listening racist?

By: mcsweetie

mcsweetie — Sun, 22 Dec 2002 22:26:26 -0800

I slam the Breeze because I hope to live out the rest of my life and never buy another Chrysler product. man, I feel you. if I had a choice, I would've chosen anal punishment over my Dodge Caravan.

By: sgt.serenity

sgt.serenity — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 04:27:59 -0800

The Essential Kenny Loggins lol!!

By: soplerfo

soplerfo — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 07:42:55 -0800

I'm thrilled that The Books' Thought For Food made it into the top 10 - this is such a great album - I've yet to meet anyone who's listened to it and not liked it.

By: Espoo2

Espoo2 — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 09:24:29 -0800

I love the The Books... Took me a few listens, though... And I always hear something new in it.

By: SweetJesus

SweetJesus — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 10:35:50 -0800

Sweetjesus: From your info you look like a sharp young fellow. I'm not sure why you're having so much trouble following. I didn't realize that I was having trouble following. I understand everything you're saying, even though I may disagree with you on some things. I slam the Breeze because I hope to live out the rest of my life and never buy another Chrysler product. From personal experience, to anecdotal evidence, to professional reviews, Chrysler's are GENERALLY beyond "questionable" in the mechanical category. At one time in the late 80's/early 90's I think the news-magazine-of-the-day quote was that only 1 out of 10 Dodges off the line were defect free. My immediate family has owned perhaps 8 Chrysler products in the last 20 years, and not one of them I would rate above "mediocre". Well, I used to drive a Honda Civic, but earlier this year some jackass decided to pull a little hit and run on my car, while it was parked in my drive way. Being a poor college student, I was at the mercy of my parents who donated the Breeze to help me out (Used to be my mom's). As for Chrysler products being shitty, I'll agree with you to a point. They were shitty before they were bought out by Mercedes. The new crop of Chrysler cars (300M, Crossfire) are pretty nice. That being said, the PT Cruiser is one of the ugliest cars on the planet. First off, I will never forgive you for putting me in league with O'Reilly. He is basically the antithesis of everything I believe in. Second, I was not talking about hip-hop. I was talking about what the punks blast at 129db. It so happens that is often hip-hop, but that is a link that you made, not me. They sometimes blast the pop flavor of the week. There's also a contingent that's starting to try to move euro-dance and techno to the street. I don't know if the "parking lot rave" will ever catch on or not. All I can do is speak from my experience. In my experience, hip-hop fans come in two flavors. The first is those that truly appreciate the free form style (that's not capitalized on purpose, it's a generic term, not Free Form) and the lyrical subject and gymnastics that go with it, along with its many musical influences, including jazz, r&b, and even old-school pop. I'll take back the O'Reilly quip, but your original post had a "Damn those kids and their crazy music" vibe to it. Yeah, there is some truly bad hip hop out there, but it's like that with every musical genre. From your original post, it sounded like you were slamming hip hop in general (associating Eminem with purple low riders. It's was just natural to infer that you were lumping in all hip hop with the low rider crowd), which is just plain ignorant to do. You've clarified your position, and I tend to agree with you mostly. Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Guru and Jazzamatazz, Mr Lif, Akrobatik, KRS-One, El-P, Nas and others are heavily influenced by old school jazz and soul records, and it shows in their music. Along with the aforementioned "true school" crowd there's plenty of good hip hop that doesn't have a deep lyrical message, but is still fun to listen to. Now what's wrong with that? I'm pretty surprised that you find any worth in Eminem's stuff. I hold that he is a hip-hop novelty. To each his own. There's a reason so many people like Eminem, and why his CD's get consistently good reviews. It's because they're just plain enjoyable to listen to. He's lyrically deft, and his production is slick. Not trying to be an asshole here, but have you ever listened to a complete Eminem album? I can see how you could form a negative opinion of Eminem just from the constant repetition of that 8 Mile song on every radio station (in existence). My advice would be to just listen to one of his albums. Buy it, borrow it, steal it. Whatever. As for Eminem being a novelty, I don't agree with you. He's put out 4 albums in 4 or 5 years. He has a lot of cred in the hip hop community, and he certainly not considered a joke or a novelty.

By: Skot

Skot — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 10:45:05 -0800

I would just like to point out that Sigur Ros sucks. Buy the Múm album instead. They even bother to name their songs. (/troll)

By: nandop

nandop — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 11:25:57 -0800

Good Pitchfork & Co definition that of Buddyhead, but I think that the discovering of great new music is a virtue of indie-lists that overwrites the weaknesses of the indie-media. At the end, if you're patient, it pays off. Two more lists of Top 2002 albums: + Q Magazine Top 50 + Slant Magazine Top 10

By: Ynoxas

Ynoxas — Mon, 23 Dec 2002 13:23:34 -0800

Not trying to be an asshole here, but have you ever listened to a complete Eminem album?... My advice would be to just listen to one of his albums. No, that's a fair question. And I have not listened to an entire album of his all the way through. I've not enjoyed the individual tracks very much so I didn't think there was much to gain by listening to the whole. That may be incorrect, I'm willing to defer to those with knowledge. And part of that is a sign o' the times. In my house I have a 100-CD changer. In my car I have a 6-CD changer and satellite radio. On my desktop I have about 2000 individual MP3's. I very rarely listen to an entire album anymore, and that is likely regrettable. In the old days you put on an album, and did whatever you did for about 28 minutes, then came and flipped it over. The song "Stan" gets a lot of mouth time, and I've listened to it more than a few times (including right now) to try to "get it". It just doesn't seem that special to me. The story-song is hardly a new contrivance. It basically sounds like Johnny Paycheck with a lazy downbeat. I bet that's the first time anyone has compared "Stan" to "Colorado Kool-Aid". I guess I like my rap more regimented and more sing-songish. His total disregard for rhyme and meter makes it different I admit, but it's not my thing. I also have the same complaints about other loose forms such as fusion. It's just a preference. Along with the aforementioned "true school" crowd there's plenty of good hip hop that doesn't have a deep lyrical message, but is still fun to listen to. Now what's wrong with that? Nothing. In fact, that's what I prefer. The most represented rap artist in my 600-disc collection is Sir Mix-a-Lot. I tend towards hip-pop actually. I guess what I'm really after is, if you consider yourself an afficionado or at least enthusiast of hip-hop, do you *REALLY* think Eminem is some kind of genius? Sucks about the Civic man. I assume that means they never found the guy. From the pics it looks like a pretty hard hit. Got the Volvo in front of you too it looks. Travolta has the right idea in Pulp Fiction about messing with people's cars.

By: inpHilltr8r

inpHilltr8r — Tue, 24 Dec 2002 03:01:23 -0800

I don't know if the "parking lot rave" will ever catch on or not. It's about a decade too late for that.

By: timeistight

timeistight — Tue, 24 Dec 2002 13:52:18 -0800

perhaps they're leaning towards the latter this year, seeing how I've only heard about a quarter of all the albums listed ...or maybe you just turned thirty. (Happened to me a long time ago.)

By: wrench

wrench — Fri, 27 Dec 2002 12:38:10 -0800

Ynoxas: What records played for 28 minutes on one side? anyway, my roommate got me Andrew WK's album for xmas. It sounds like the guy who wrote the theme song to "Growing Pains" decided to try his hand at writing rock songs for beer commercials on his giant synthesizer. In short, love it.

By: inpHilltr8r

inpHilltr8r — Sun, 29 Dec 2002 04:09:57 -0800

What records played for 28 minutes on one side? IIRC (and it's been a long time) Iron Maiden's Powerslave, (bought during my incredibly brief (about a week) flirtation with heavy metal) was 60 minutes on one slab of vinyl.